Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Finally Arrived!

This may not look good, but it tasted amazing after a long day of hiking, and it was really filling! We had corn, spicy beans and rice (really spicy, but good), backpacking risotto with chicken, and hot apple cider. For dessert we had granola bars, which were good, healthy, and tasty for a dessert. We also had water to drink and ramen noodles if we were still hungry but we didn't put them in the picture. We have to finish the regular food before we get the noodles so that we don't fill up on noodles.

Today we also got to bear bag. This means we put all our garbage and toiletries in a nylon sack and hang it high in a tree so that bears can't get to it. Last year the Wanderers saw bears but so far we haven't seen any. If our garbage is out of their reach they will leave us alone. We put our toiletries there too because they sometimes attract bears and if a bear eats things like toothpaste or soap he might get sick. Our leaders put our food in bear canisters. The canisters are really hard to open and close so that's why they did it for us.

Food-o-meter: 8/10
Health rating: 6/10 (it had a lot of sodium, but our leaders told us we need sodium anyway on the trail)
Mouthfuls: 99
Course: Trail dinner
Price: about $2.32
Pieces of hair and nature: 0 hair but 5 nature, it was an unlucky day: 2 ants and 3 pine needles
View: 10/10! Round Lake is so pretty!

Today's view is of Round Lake. We found some cute little water snakes here and the water was good for swimming.

After swimming there was a lot of dirt in the water so we had to filter our water through a bandanna before we could treat it with iodine. We have to treat all our water just in case there are things in it that might make us sick.

Today we learned that it takes a long time to cook over a camp stove or a fire. For us it is fun but it would be hard to do it everyday like they have to do for Mary's Meals. Today we challenge anyone who went to camp this summer to donate to Mary's Meals!

Don't know about the Granola bars in the US, but the German version - Muesliriegel ^^ - usually is very high in sugar and often contains artificial flavours to "enhance" the taste. So it helps to be carefull when buying those bars ;)

Here in the US, bars are high in sugars. Those bars are very small though and probably gave the girls the right amount of sugar boost they needed. They are the most commonly sold granola bar in the US. We have many different kinds of bars here and many are more healthy, but these weren't too bad. :)

Yes, Meredith is correct. We opted for the smaller bars with just enough necessary sugar and relatively minor additives rather than those that were healthier but lacked enough sugar and were prohibitively expensive...this camp is entirely volunteer run so we can keep the cost to attend relatively low so more girls can afford to come...but as a result we have to be particularly careful about our backpacking food budget! These bars were designated as the girls' "dessert" so that they wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up regular messy backpacking desserts...so we were ok with the added sugar :)

I happened upon your blog accidentally, but I quite enjoy reading it. Where in the world did you acquire that spoon-fork-knife utensil? I need to buy one (two, actually) to further equip our picnic box. :)

They used to be not very common in the UK but now you see them in just about all outdoor shops. The plastic ones are quite unexpensive. They are usually called Sporks and there is also one company making Titanium ones which I use most of the time at home.

I'm curious to know how cool it gets at night while you're up there, girls.

I used to live in Colorado and we often went camping up in the mountains. It could be quite warm during the day but, once the sun disappeared over the peaks in the evening, it cooled off quickly and we were scrambling for our warmer clothes.

If I read your camp website correctly, it says you're all sleeping on the ground. Hope you're all staying warm enough as you sleep!!

This summer the nights were very warm, considering the altitude -- only dipped to the mid-50's F. Some years we do get snow, though! The girls are all well-equipped with tarps, pads (that go between their tarp and their sleeping bag, trapping warm air), 0-15 degree F sleeping bags, and some even have "cocoons" (silk bags that go inside their sleeping bags) which keep them quite toasty and warm at night. They also pack in tents, though they only use them when it rains or snows.

My little Girl Scout thought your meal looks yummy. She was also impressed with your eating utensil. She said "that's an ultimate spork!" And she's envious of your weekend trip. I hope when she's a little older she can do something like that. Her current troop, other than her, is not at all outdoorsy.

You sang Barges, this makes me very happy! I was a Girl Scout from 1st grade (6 years old) all the way through my senior year of high school (18 years old) and I still remember that song. I hope you girls have fun. Girl Scout memories are some of my favorites from when I was growing up (I'm 33 now).

Barges! I would like to go with you, I would like to sail the ocean blue. Barges! Are there treasures in your hold? Do you fight with pirates, brave and bold?

Wow, risotto, sweetcorn and beans... that sounds really yummy, thinking about it is making me hungry. I went camping as a Guide but never trekking so we never had much camp food. I might have to have it for my tea tomorrow!!!